Chapter 23
We all gathered around the table to hear what the professor had to say.
"Alright. This mission is one of upmost importance. There is a small warehouse south of Alkali Lake. It is not very big, but what we need is not in there, it is underground. We believe this to be another operations center for Striker and his men. It was a back up base where he could go to hide out from prying eyes. It his hidden inside a mountain side. Very hard to find. We need Jean, Storm, and Pixie to take the jet up there and check it out. All we need is a way of getting in and out. We are not getting in deep just yet. We need to sort out a plan and by doing that we need a way of getting in and out. That is what your job is." said the professor directing the question to me, Storm, and Jean.
"Sounds easy enough." said Storm.
"Yes, quiet. But just to be safe, I would like you to leave tonight, as to not draw attention to yourselves." said the professor.
"Will do." said Jean.
"Excellent. That will be all for now. I need to think on this matter a bit more. You are free until this evening. Logan I am sure you've shown Pixie her new uniform?" asked the professor.
"Yes I have." he said.
"Excellent. You all are dismissed." The professor left the room and we all dispersed at our own will.
I left and went to my room. I wanted to take a quick nap before my first mission. I didn't know if I should have been excited or if I should have been scared. This was after all a very important mission even if it seemed easy.
I walked into my room and was about to close the door when Logan's arm stopped the door.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Yea." I sighed. He pushed his way into my room and closed the door.
"What's wrong?" he asked, patting the open space next to him on my bed.
I sat down in a huff and sighed.
"Am I supposed to be excited or scared?" I asked.
"You're supposed to be both. But more importantly you're supposed to be cautious. Don't shut your mind off from everything that is happening around you. Be cautious of every sound, every smell; you never know if those small things could be your life or your death." he said.
"Thanks. I feel so much better." I replied sarcastically.
"Look, I'm not gonna sugar coat this for you. This is very serious and I don't want you getting hurt."
"I know." I sighed. "I just don't know what to expect. I'm probably just making this all out to be something bigger than it should." I said.
"Yea, well, that's expected. Look, don't worry. It's just a small mission, I highly doubt you'll even have to leave the jet." smiled Logan.
"Thanks." I smiled.
"Were you doing something before or," he started.
"Oh I was going to take a nap before I left." I said.
"Want company?" he smiled.
"Definitely." I smiled back.
He laid down and opened his arms. I crawled into them as they wrapped around me. I fell asleep to Logan's heartbeat, thinking and hoping this mission was a breeze.
I woke up a few hours later to see it starting to get dark out. I carefully unwrapped myself from Logan's arms and decided to take a shower before leaving.
I grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom. After washing my hair and my body, I turned off the water and dried myself off. I put on my underwear and my bra, and was about to put on my tank top when I looked at myself in the mirror. I dropped my tank top along with my jaw at what I saw.
Along my arms where purple colored lines that wove across my skin like vines on a tree. The broke off in parts and ended in a swirl. Along my biceps, on both of my arms, the lines ended in small circular swirls. The lines continued down my arm and ended in swirls on the tops of my hands.
There were lines that ran across my stomach and around my back. They ran the lengths of my legs, ending in small swirls here and there and finally ended in swirls on the tops of my feet. It looked like I had vines circling and wrapping themselves around my entire body. I looked to my face and noticed that one ran along my neck, up my face where it made a swirl at my temple, and then continued across the length of my forehead, where it curved and continued down the other side of my face where it ended in a swirl on my right cheek. I looked everywhere, noticing swirls on my hands, and feet, and shoulders, and vine looking purple lines running the lengths of my body. I released my wings and noticed they too where outlined in purple and contained swirls here and there.
I was beginning to get angry. I understood that my mutation liked to change and I accept that, but this was too much. As I continued to get angrier, I noticed my eyes getting darker and brighter at the same time, and that all of the swirls and lines along my body began to glow a bright purple.
"Logan!" I yelled, clearly beginning to freak out.
I heard him fall out of my bed and run to the bathroom door where it flew open, hitting the wall with a thud. He found me standing in nothing but my undergarments in the middle of the bathroom. Clearly he didn't seem to care or notice since his eyes were looking at my glowing designs and not my apparel.
"Oh shit." he said flat out.
"What do I do!" I said, beginning to freak out a lot more than I was before.
"Uh, alright, here put these on and we'll go see Jean." he said. He picked up my tank top and my shorts and threw them at me. I put them in haste and we were soon running down the hallway towards Jean's room. Logan pounded on the door and would have broken it in if Scott hadn't opened it.
"What do you wa," he stopped mid sentence when his eyes landed on me. "Jean!"
"What is with all of the shout," she stopped, "Tria." she said.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me all the way down into the lab. She pushed me down on the table and started running tests left and right. Logan and Scott were off to the side, Logan furiously biting his nails, and Scott madly tapping his foot.
When she was done poking me, there was nothing left to do but wait.
"What is going on here?" asked the professor as he rolled in. "I heard such a commotion in my head I thought I would-" he stopped when he noticed my glowing skin. "Well, this is new."
"You think?" growled Logan.
"When did this start?" asked the professor.
"Well I took a shower and when I got out I noticed them. I started getting angry because I had another change and as I got angrier, my skin started to glow." I said.
"Hm, that's very interesting. I have never seen anything like this before." he said. "Ever."
I whimpered and looked towards the machine, willing it to spit out the results faster. It finally beeped and I swear my heart stopped. Jean looked at the results and furrowed her eyebrow.
"Hm." she said to herself.
"What!" I yelled.
"This is very weird." she said. "Normally when a mutation occurs, there is evidence, but with this one, there is nothing there to signify this change ever taking place. It seems as if it is its own person. There is a connection though. It is attracted to your emotional psyche. Such as when you became angry, it began to glow. Your emotions are on high alert right now, that is why you are still glowing. You just need to calm down and it will go away. I guess."
"You guess! So if I get mad at someone I'm gonna start glowing like a glowstick?" I yelled.
"Pretty much. It seems that this harbors all of your powers. This line here shows that all of your mutations are being pulled towards the surface of your skin. When you harbor your powers, they become greater in strength and power, and if you combine all of your powers together, it can be distructing. It seems this is your ultimate power." she said pointing to a line on the sheet.
"My ultimate power." I said with sarcasm.
"This power could either kill or help you. Depending on how it is used. If it is used in the sense that we trained you to use it, you should be fine, but if it's used in an entirely different manner, it could very well kill you." said Jean with a sigh.
"Well this is just to freaking weird. This just doesn't seem real. How can these little lines on my skin kill me? It just doesn't seem plausible." I said.
"Pixie please calm down. Look, I understand this is a big step for you, and all of us as well, but if we don't take this seriously, then something terrible could happen." said the professor with seriousness I have never seen before.
My mind began to realize what was really happening, and my skin began to stop glowing. I sat on the table, slumped, finally realizing what was happening to me. I was a weapon that was made. A weapon that was made to kill. That is why they kept me. They wanted to use me to their own advantage.
"Exactly." I heard the professor say in my head. I looked up to him and could see the compassion and care that he held within him. I gave him a small smile.
"Well, it is almost time for you to leave, and I think it best if Pixie stay here." said the professor.
"No." I said. "Just because this is a major thing doesn't mean I can't do this. I want to go. Besides, it can't be to hard right?" I said with a sad and scared smile.
The professor just smiled at me and nodded.
"If you think you are up to it." he said.
"I am." I nodded.
"Very well. Let us be getting ready."
As everyone began to leave, I noticed Logan looking at me with doubt in his eyes.
"Logan,"
"I don't think you should go." he said.
"Logan please. It's not like I am going to go fight some big bad evil monster. We are only going to go and take pictures. That's it. No harm in that." I said.
"There is harm in everything that you do. No matter how small there is always danger."
"Logan I will be fine. I know what I am doing. I know how to use my powers, I know what to do with them, if anything happens I will have Jean and Storm with me the entire time. I'll be safe." I tried reassuring him.
"I still don't think you should go." he said defiantly.
"Well that's not your decision to make." I said.
I hopped off of the table and started walking towards my suit. I grabbed it out of the case and went to go and put it on. Logan blocked my way.
"Please move." I said.
"Please, Kat, don't go." said Logan. He never used my name before and when he did it was something usually serious.
"Logan, please. Let me do this one job. It's not that difficult. I will check in with you every twenty minutes if you want me to. Please." I begged.
He seemed to give up. He hung his head and seemed to be fighting with himself.
"Alright. You check in with me every twenty minutes, not one second later." he demanded.
"Thank you." I said. I gave him a kiss on the lips and a hug. I went around him and went to go put on my suit when he stopped me.
"Hey Pixie." he said. I turned around to face him. He looked as if he wanted to say something but couldn't get it out. He was messing with something in his shirt pocket and it looked as if he was deciding whether or not to give it to me. He finally took his hand from his pocket and walked towards me. He took the tags from around his neck and put them over my head, letting them hang down my chest.
"I want these back." he said.
"You'll get them." I said. He gave me a kiss on the nose and let me go to get changed. I went into the room and shut the door.
I emerged a little bit later after much fighting with myself. I opened the door with reluctance and walked outside.
"I hate these things." I said to Logan who sat on a cushioned chair.
"Yeah I do to. Come on, the jet's this way." he said.
We walked to the door that held the magnificent jet behind it's doors. We walked in to find everyone waiting.
"Now, I want you to check in with us every thirty minutes, and you Pixie, every twenty minutes with Logan, and not a second later." said the professor with a laugh.
I chuckled a bit. "Yeah alright."
We walked up into the jet and strapped ourselves in. Storm started the jet as the roof above us slid open. The jet lifted up into the air as we took off into the night.
"Did you ask her?" asked Scott.
"No. Not yet." said Logan.
"Don't worry man. She'll come back." said Scott, giving Logan a slap on the back.
Logan watched the jet disappear into the night, fingering a small box inside his shirt pocket.
"I love you." he whispered towards the bright stars in the sky.
Oooooo...i am so excited about this chapter! Some parts may be confusing, they were to me..lol..so if anything seems weird let me know. Thanks so much!!!!